Mighty No 9 Review – Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen

Normally I post a video of the official trailer for a game at the top of my reviews. Due to the cringeworthy nature of the “Master Class” trailer, I posted the Gamespot launch trailer instead. Unfortunately, the “Master Class” trailer was a sign of things to come with this game.

Keiji Inafune who was the lead illustrator and character designer of the original Mega Man games from the NES days started his own studio in 2010 after leaving Capcom called Comcept. Shortly after he started a Kickstarter Campaign that was very popular with $3,845,170 pledged by supporters. The game made a lot of promises, was delayed multiple times (at this point in time the Xbox 360, PS Vita, 3DS, and PC version, which was originally the only planned version, are still delayed. ), and was plagued with bad marketing decisions (see the “Master Class” trailer for more info). With someone like Keiji Inafune leading the project, many expected this to be a great game. Mega Man 2 was one of my all time favorite games as a kid and I was highly anticipating this game. I didn’t hear about the game until after the Kickstarter ended so I didn’t back it, but I still felt the pain of the backers every time the game was delayed because I was so excited for a new game in the same vein as those old Mega Man games I loved so much.

So I’ll start with some things the game does that are good. The physical version for PS4 included codes for DLC and digital copies of the game on PS4, PS3, and Vita (if it ever gets released). This is a nice touch since it’s the first physical game I’ve bought that was cross buy and gave me a digital version of the PS4 game as well. I never even had to insert the disc into the system. If I decided to trade it in (I’ve already decided) I could and I’ll still have my digital copies to play. Also, they added extra modes besides the 12 main story levels. There are, for example, a series of challenge stages and time attack modes. I like when games add this type of feature that could be unlocked as you progress because it adds to the replay value.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t very good. The level design is uninspired. The cut scenes and voice acting are pretty terrible. The controls are limited. No charged shot, no aiming up, down, or diagonally. Just run forward, jump, shoot, and dash. As stated on the official website:

“Mighty No. 9 is a side-scrolling action game takes the best elements from 8- and 16-bit classics that you know and love and transforms them with modern tech, fresh mechanics and fan input into something fresh and amazing!”

I failed to find any modern tech (loading screens are forever), fresh mechanics, or anything fresh or amazing in the game. Honestly, the most important thing of any game is that it is fun and unfortunately this game is not very fun. The best part is the challenge mode and even that falls short. If you want to get your Mega Man fix, I recommend picking up Mega Man Legacy Collection which includes all 6 of the NES Mega Man games and includes a museum and challenge mode. It lets you relive the classics while giving you something new, with the challenge mode, to experience.

I feel I should put one final comment in here. I hate that I had to give this game a bad review. I really really wanted to like it. I am a huge fan of Keiji Inafune and most of the games he’s worked on in the past. I didn’t exactly have high expectations for this game but even if I lowered my expectations, they wouldn’t have been met.